Ancien hôtel Brunet du Boccage · Photo: Rosier · CC BY-SA 3.020 historic monuments, the oldest from prehistory
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2017. The Culture ministry lists 20 historic monuments in Cognac: 5 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 15 inscrit (the second level). That’s 11 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 87% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 19 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Cognac in 19 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Hôtel VerdelinClassé
Église Saint-LégerClassé
Dolmen de SéchebecClassé
Immeuble dit Maison Lestrade ou Maison de la LieutenanceClassé
Ancien couvent des RécolletsInscrit+14See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
How old Cognac’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
7 of 19 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Dolmen de Séchebec (Prehistory). 1 monument has no date on the list.
Where Cognac’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
Classé is the higher protection: any work on the building needs the State’s permission. Work on an inscrit building must be declared to the State in advance. Around both, building work in sight of the monument (usually within 500 m) needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
Points as the ministry gives them: a monument spread over several plots has one point.
5 classé monuments in Cognac
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 5 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé15 inscrit monuments in Cognac
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 14, A to Z
3 more, named only by their kind
3 more are named in the list only by their kind: 1 building (immeuble), 1 house (maison) and 1 other, most from the 17th century. The 2 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Most of Cognac’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 12 of 20 monuments (60%). 3 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 1 has no domain on the list.
Cognac has had a protected historic area since 2017
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR75-05 | AVAP July 12, 2017 | AVAP (heritage area rules) July 12, 2017 |
A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
7 of Cognac’s monuments were protected in 1973
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1883: Église Saint-Léger. 7 were protected in 1973 alone. None has been added since 2011.
17% of homes in Cognac were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
17% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1971 and 1990 than in any other period (27%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
17 people born in Cognac before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Everyone born in Cognac Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Cognac has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 17,900 to 19,300 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 3. 7 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Cognac
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognac | 18,532 | 20 | 5 | Yes |
| Châteaubernard | 3,878 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Val-de-Cognac | 3,471 | 7 | 2 | — |
| Jarnac | 4,486 | 6 | 1 | Yes |
| Chaniers Charente-Maritime | 3,651 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Pons Charente-Maritime | 4,343 | 10 | 5 | Yes |
| Rouillac | 2,919 | 2 | 1 | — |
Cognac in brief
Dolmen de Séchebec, from prehistory, is the oldest monument in Cognac. All told, the list holds 20 historic monuments, 5 of them classé. Its housing is old: 17% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 87% of compared French towns.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 4 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien hôtel Brunet du Boccage. In 2021 the Mission Patrimoine picked Porte et tours du Vieux-Port as a monument in danger to save. Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Monuments historiques. France protects buildings at two levels. Classé, the higher (about a third of the list), means any work needs the State’s permission; inscrit means work must be declared to the State in advance. The Culture ministry’s Mérimée base lists every protected building, and this page counts them.
- Partly protected. Many entries protect part of a building only (its façades and roofs, a staircase, a painted room). Each counts as one monument, like a fully protected one.
- Where a monument is counted. In the commune named on its protection, moved to today’s commune where communes have since merged. A monument listed for several communes counts in each.
- Sites patrimoniaux remarquables. Since 2016 France’s protected historic areas (the former secteurs sauvegardés, ZPPAUP and AVAP) share one name. Inside one, building work follows the area’s plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
- What isn’t here. Protected objects (furniture, organs, paintings), old buildings with no protection, UNESCO World Heritage listings and labels such as “Plus Beaux Villages de France” aren’t on this list, so this page doesn’t count them.
- No History Grade yet. Everything on this page is described, not graded: France’s History Grade isn’t built yet.
Questions about the history of Cognac
How many historic monuments are there in Cognac?
The Culture ministry lists 20 historic monuments in Cognac: 5 classé and 15 inscrit.
Which monuments in Cognac are classé?
5, among them Dolmen de Séchebec, Église Saint-Léger, Immeuble dit Maison Lestrade ou Maison de la Lieutenance, Ancien hôtel Brunet du Boccage and Hôtel Verdelin.
How old are the monuments of Cognac?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from prehistory.
Is Cognac a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Cognac has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2017.
When were monuments in Cognac first protected?
The first in 1883, the latest in 2008.
How old are the homes in Cognac?
17% of its main homes were built before 1919 (median compared French town: 7.4%).
France has no History Grade yet: this page describes, it doesn’t grade.
Sources: Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée base on POP (immeubles protégés au titre des monuments historiques), October 2026 · Ministère de la Culture, sites patrimoniaux remarquables, October 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (main homes by build period) · Wikidata and Wikipedia (people born here) · Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata (photos of the monuments, each with its own credit and license) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated October 30, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.